Arrangement.
The archaeological museum houses an exhibit hall and two _in situ_
burial groups. The exhibit hall makes up the main part of the building.
The in situ burial groups are enclosed in wings at the north and south
ends of the exhibit hall.
Design.
Design of the building itself was based on ideas used by the Moundville
Indian in shaping and decorating his artifacts. The classic three-step
motif expressed in the three roof levels of the museum, and used over
the doorway, was a favorite design element of the Moundville artist. The
skull and arm-bone design making up the parapet frieze was copied from a
design on a Moundville Indian pot (_see photograph on p._ 11). The
medallion over the entrance is an enlarged reproduction of a stone
pendant once owned by a Moundville Indian (_see photograph on p._ 4).
This pendant as well as the pot from which the frieze was copied may be
seen in the exhibit hall.
Main exhibit hall.
Displays in the exhibit hall are designed to illustrate (1) a brief
history of prehistoric man, (2) cultural traits and physical
characteristics of the prehistoric Moundvillian, and (3) physical
features of Mound State Monument.
A brief story of prehistoric mankind is given in the three wall cases to
the visitor's left as he enters the museum. Cultural traits of the
Moundville Indian are illustrated in the eight cases along the back
wall, and in the five table cases in the exhibit hall. Physical features
of Mound State Monument are depicted in the three wall cases to the
visitor's left as he leaves the museum.
Burial groups.
The north wing of the museum (to the Visitor's left as he enters the
building) encloses seventeen _in situ_ burials. The south wing (to the
visitor's left as he leaves the building) encloses forty such burials.
These fifty-seven burials, together with their accompanying pottery,
ornaments and other artifacts, have been uncovered and left in the
ground exactly as they were found.
These burials had been placed in a cemetery area, not a mound. Most of
the burials were approximately one and one-half feet under the surface
of the ground, although some were only four inches underground and
others were three feet. The original ground-level is demonstrated in the
exhibit by lines drawn around the edges of the pits.
Studies of Moundville skeletal remains have revealed the sex and
individual age (_i.e._, how old the individual was at the time of
burial) of each burial, as well as certain physical defects. Effects of
head-flattening, a practice described elsewhere on these pages, are
apparent on many of the skulls.
[Illustration: IN SITU BURIALS IN NORTH WING OF MUSEUM.]
[Illustration: IN SITU BURIALS IN SOUTH WING OF MUSEUM.
BURIALS HAVE BEEN UNCOVERED AND LEFT IN THE GROUND JUST AS THEY WERE
FOUND.]